seems to me that many people go through life without ever
pondering questions such as "What’s it all about?" "Why am I here?"
"What is life?" "When I die, will I cease to be or will I continue
to be, but in a different place and in a different
form?"
Then one day it’s all over. And it’s too
late to ponder such questions. And in looking back, the notion
arises that it was all an exercise in futility. Pointless. Without
purpose.
Let’s see if I can illustrate for you what
I’m trying to say by telling you a little story. It’s about two
jewelers named George and Henry.
One day while visiting George in his shop,
Henry saw a ring that struck his fancy. Asking the price, he was
told 100 dollars. Without any attempt to bargain — although to this
day he doesn’t know why — he paid George the 100 dollars and
left.
Immediately, given that Henry had not tried
to negotiate a lower price, George decided that the ring had to be
worth more than 100 dollars.
Leaving his shop in
his wife’s care, he hurried over to Henry’s. There he found
the ring priced at 200 dollars. Which he paid and left.
Now it was
Henry's turn to be suspicious. The ring had to be
worth more. So he went to George’s shop and bought it back for 300
dollars.
This went on for
weeks. One day, when Henry had gone to George’s shop to
again buy back the ring, he couldn’t find it anywhere in George’s
display case. When he asked George about the ring, George replied
that he had sold it.
"Sold it!", Henry
shouted with chagrin and agitation, "How could you do such
a thing? We were both making such a good living from it."
End of story.
Is that the way you're going
to go out? Are you going to ask the way Peggy Lee did —
Is that all there is?
I sure hope
not.
Think about it.